Manufacturing lines have generally evolved in complexity by the integration of highly sophisticated automation devices and methods. Gains in productivity continue to be realized as past reliance on human judgment and manipulation is replaced by processor-driven systems. The repeatability of such intelligent systems enables maximizing both quality and production throughput velocity.
There has also been a general trend toward integrating fabrication and testing operations into the final assembly processes as much as possible. Complex factory information systems are used to gather real time information about the product and disperse it among other nodes, such as downstream processing stations and data collection banks.
It is particularly useful for a processing station to have the capability of ascertaining information about a particular product as it enters the station, so that it can act dynamically according to the information. For example, based on observed qualitative information about the product, the processing station could initiate a selected processing sequence from a plurality of different sequences stored in memory. Also, qualitative information about the product could be used to precisely position the product in the station for processing in accordance with different respective processing sequences.
However, the order with which different products or different versions of a product arrive at a particular processing station can differ from the way they are started down a manufacturing line. For example, products can be directed from a main conveyor path to a spur, such as according to needs associated with product differentiation and/or test procedures. Some products may inherently require longer testing than others, or sometimes a product will require retesting or additional testing. While one product is relegated to a spur it is advantageous to continue other products down the main conveyor. However, sequential disorder results when the object in the spur is returned to the main conveyor.
There is a long felt need in the industry for a fully automatic approach to serializing products as they are conveyed along a path. It is to that need that the claimed embodiments are directed.